UN police gender initiatives

Gender initiatives

Increasing the number of female police officers

The United Nations ensures gender-sensitive policing throughout the work of United Nations Police as an operational necessity to address the differentiated security needs of women, men, girls and boys.

The participation of female police officers is critical for the full spectrum of United Nations Police activities, such as the promotion of rule of law, intelligence, planning, leadership, investigations, public order management, capacity-building of host-State police, community-oriented policing, gender awareness raising and engaging communities.

In addition, female police officers act as role models for gender equality, inspiring women and girls to advocate for their own rights and pursue careers in law enforcement. Female police officers, moreover, provide a greater sense of security to women and children and improve access and support from law enforcement agencies to local women. They also help the United Nations address and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse.

In 2009, the United Nations launched an effort to increase the number of female police officers deployed with the United Nations. As a result, the number of female officers increased from about 900 (seven percent of 12,000 police) to 1,300 officers (ten percent of 13,000) in 2016. Yet, more needs to be done. The goal was reaffirmed through Security Council Resolution 2242 (2015), which mandates the United Nations to double its female police representation by 2020.

Eight Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015) highlight the differential impact of conflict on women, men, boys and girls and therefore the necessity to mainstream gender perspectives into peacekeeping. Furthermore, Security Council resolution 2185 (2014) on policing in peacekeeping emphasized the promotion of gender equality as part of a comprehensive approach to conflict prevention and sustainable peace.

A police service that is representative of the population helps restore trust and confidence in the police, especially from women and children, as the police institution is reformed, restructured and rebuilt.

In August 2009, the United Nations launched the ‘Global Effort’ and has worked with Member States and national police services since to recruit more female police officers into UN police operations around the world.

The ‘Global Effort’ initiative’ calls on United Nations Member States to:

Establish a policy that sets the percentage of their contribution of female police officers on a par with their national police gender ratio;

Review their recruitment requirements and procedures for international deployment to ensure that female candidates are not restricted from applying; and;

Consider providing incentives for officers who serve in peacekeeping missions.

Implementing the ‘Global Effort’

Working closely with member states, specific trainings were designed, funded and implemented to increase the number of female officers eligible for deployment as United Nations Police officer.

One initiative, led by the United Nations Police Division, is the all-female selection assistance and assessment team (SAAT) training. Since 2014 the training familiarises and prepares female police officers with the assessment procedures they require to pass before deploying as United Nations Police. Trainings took place in Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Rwanda and Togo. As of August 2016, 333 passed the UN examination and are eligible to deploy and 210 female officers already deployed with United Nations Police in peacekeeping operations as a result of the training.

Based on the experience with female officers in formed police units, which significantly enhanced the operational effectiveness, United Nations Police is prioritizing mixed-gender units, which have been identified as good practice, for deployment that include at least 32 female officers (one platoon).

Mainstreaming gender-sensitive policing

United Nations Police integrates the different concerns and vulnerabilities of women, men, boys and girls into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all police activities.

United Nations police officers in peace operations work closely with the national police to build the capacity of the host State police, and mainstream gender-sensitive policing, tailored to the specific national and local context and security needs.

Gender focal points in UN peace operations exchange best practices and experiences through the Gender focal point network.

United Nations Police Gender toolkit

In 2015, the United Nations Police Gender Toolkit was formally adopted as a compilation of training materials with standardised best practices on gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping.

The toolkit is a complete training package consisting of an openly accessible e-learning course, an in-person training-of-trainers curriculum, a handbook and a compendium of project tools. The kit also includes a basic and advanced course with the following specialisations, including assisting the host State police in developing, implementing and monitoring a policy on equal opportunities, and preventing and investigating sexual and gender-based violence.